Already?

We haven't even been here a full month and she is already climbing the walls.....

Just kidding. This is Hannah's fun, new trick.

The Inside

I thougth some of you might be interested in what our cabin looks like inside. A few of you have had the 'Skype' tour. For those of you who have not been privileged to take the tour, here are some pictures of the rooms inside of our cabin. I am also going to include the floor dimensions in case any of you guys were wondering. All of the dimensions are measured wall to wall and are approximate.

Here is our living room. (20'x12') We brought our recliner. It rocks, swivels, and reclines. It is VERY comfortable. We thought there was only one extra chair in the living room. Turns out there were two, but this one fits nicely. It is nice to have a little extra seating when we have company. We also use our two folding lawn chairs for extra seating.

We also brought our T.V. We do not have cable or an antenna. We did not bring the T.V. for entertainment, but for our Wii. This past Christmas, we decided to buy our family a Wii specifically for this journey. The girls are used to going outside playing and getting plenty of exercise. We figured with all the snow coming, we all would not be getting as much exercise as we needed. So, the Wii works out well. For those of you who don't know what a Wii is, it is basically interactive video games. You can jog (while a dog chases you if you get too slow) or play tennis, baseball, yoga exercises and TONS more exercising games. We love it. It hasn't been used yet since the weather is still nice. We go on hikes and to the play ground almost daily. But, when it starts snowing - look out Hula Hoop - here I come!

The sofa folds down to make a double size bed. It is VERY comfortable. Plus, I can drag it directly in front of the gas furnace. It makes me smile just thinking about it.

This is my corner. I use my Pampered Chef folding lawn chair for my desk chair. It is very comfortable. I do not sell Pampered Chef anymore. But, I do know a very good consultant in N.C. in case you need something.

Here is Michael's corner. He studies here. The table is small, but he has plenty of floor space to spread out all his papers. Also, he uses the 'home school' box (the blue one) to keep some of his books on. We leave this lamp on all the time. It is a very soft light for the girls during the night. It is VERY dark in here at night. The trees keep the moon from shining in the windows so much. If everyone is asleep, I use this corner to study and I use the home school box for a stool. I love how I have discovered how a lot of my things can multi-task (another post about that to come later.)

This is our dining room. (11'x9.5') We have a finished picnic table for a dining room table. It works out great. No more chairs all over the house. The girls were constantly moving the chairs around so they could see out the windows or reach something that was put up outside of their reach for a reason.

This is our kitchen. (9'x8.5') I love it. I have always loved small kitchens. We have a tiny apartment size gas stove. It works great. The gas heats up so fast. Someone cleaned the oven knob so well that they scrubbed all the numbers off. So, we bought an oven thermometer to measure the temperature. The temperature isn't ever exact and fluctuates a lot during cooking. So, baking a big pound cake is out. But, lots of chocolate chip cookies have already been baked and they turn out beautiful. The kitchen sink is a single basin sink. I never appreciated the luxury of having a double basin sink. Now I do. Michael likes to joke and say that we do have a dishwasher - as soon as I walk into the kitchen.

This is a look at the right side of my kitchen.

This is a look at the left side of my kitchen.

This is a look down the hallway. (3'x13') We have a closet on the side. I love this little closet. We keep our snacks and extra bulk food/bathroom items here. Also, there is a rod to hang up the clothes when they come out of the dryer. This is very convenient for me.

Here is our washer and dryer. I praise God every day I do laundry. This is the story. When we were told about the BI, we knew there was a laundry area in the camp ground for our use. When it gets very cold, that one shuts down and we would be taking our laundry over to the BI. For anyone who has children, you know how much laundry there is to do. So, I had envisioned in my mind, us layering up our clothes and brining all our laundry over to the BI in the freezing cold weather. We would also be bringing our books to work on school since we would be spending 'loads' of time waiting on the washer and dryer. When the lady at headquarters called to get me in a cabin, she said that two had washer and dryer connections.
You could not wipe the grin off my face for DAYS.

Here is our bathroom. (9.5'x6') There is a towel under our toilet because the water is so cold in the tank and it is so warm in our house that it sweats and drips water all over the floor. I am glad we brought a few extra towels.

The sink area.

This is our bedroom. (11.5'x9.5') One of my most wonderful friends gave me this quilt for a house warming gift years ago. The quilt under the top quilt is one that I received from my aunt. We only have two quilts on the bed so far. I have more.

This is Michael's closet in our bedroom.

This is Hannah's room. (9'x10.5') She sleeps on the bottom and their 'club' is on top.

This is Hannah and Cari's closet and their dresser (in Hannah's room).

This is Cari's room. (9'x10.5') She sleeps on the bed with the blue and tan afghan.My closet is inside of Cari's room. It looks the same as Hannah's closet. I get half of the rod and the girls get the other half for their clothes stackers.

So, there it is. I hope you all enjoyed your tour.

First Day

Today was the first day of school for Michael. Isn't he handsome???!!! I love that he is required to wear a tie.

Blessings

Praise God from whom all blessings flow.....

This is a picture of the blessings we received this evening. There was a marathon today. They ran around Schroon Lake. Several people had tables set up giving out water and food. This was some of the leftovers that they decided to share with us. A bowl full of watermelon, a bag full of grapes, 23 bananas (I LOVE bananas!!!), 6 cinnamon and raisin bagels and 12 containers of Stonyfield Organic blueberry yogurt! Thank you Lord.

Matthew 6:25-34 says this...

25 "For this reason I say to you, do not be worried about your life, as to what you will eat or what you will drink; nor for your body, as to what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing?
26 "Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?
27 "And who of you by being worried can add a single hour to his life?
28 "And why are you worried about clothing? Observe how the lilies of the field grow; they do not toil nor do they spin,
29 yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory clothed himself like one of these.
30 "But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more clothe you? You of little faith!
31 "Do not worry then, saying, 'What will we eat?' or 'What will we drink?' or 'What will we wear for clothing?'
32 "For the Gentiles eagerly seek all these things; for your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things.
33 "But seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.
34 "So do not worry about tomorrow; for tomorrow will care for itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.

Family Fun Day

Today was Family Fun Day at the BI. Friday was registration for all the new, first year, students. Most of their parents stayed and some of their siblings. They had all the blow up toys ready for everybody and they also served us supper. Thank you WOL for such a wonderful afternoon.

As I approached the first thing that caught my eye was this. An ENTIRE table dedicated to Cotton Candy! They were carrying it in by the trash bag loads. Now, if you know me, you know this made me smile really big!

Hannah and I and our love for Cotton Candy. She is definitely my child.

This is Cari jumping in the huge bouncing ring. It was hard to get a clear picture since I kept bouncing up and down while trying to take it.

This was a new one. You strap yourself in. You are attached to a bungee cord. You take off running against the other opponent and try to stick this velcro pad the furtherest away. You have three rounds. Hannah LOVED this one. When she stuck the velcro and let loose, the bungee cord would jerk her backwards so hard she would come up off her feet. Of course, she loved that part the most.

This is Cari on the other side.

They had Sumo wrestling also. The suits were too big for the girls, but most of the teenagers enjoyed it. It was hilarious to watch.

This was the normal obstacle course that we have played on before. But, it is always the highlight of the bounce toys for us. This is Hannah, in her competitive spirit, making sure she beat Cari.

This is Cari, just having a BLAST. She doesn't really care if she wins or not. She just loves to have fun on the slide part.

This is me and Hannah racing. Of course, she won. I was ahead until I got to the climbing part. She is a monkey for sure.

This is Hannah racing Michael. And, since he was ahead, she was trying to grab his pant leg to hold him back. (Wonder who taught her that trick?)

And this is the face of someone who just beat his 7 year old daughter on the blow up toy obstacle course.

I'm in LOVE...

I have fallen in love all over again. It's a different kind of love. Michael has nothing to do with it. You might be wondering what in the WORLD could make me feel this way. I am in love with this gas furnace. Its cold up here and the Lord is good!

Please, let me explain. While living in N.C. we had some cold days. We also had a heat pump. While it would slowly warm the house up, the heat coming out of the vent wasn't anything to brag about. I was often cold.

When I was a child, I vividly remember wadding up paper as my dad started a fire in the wood stove. I would sit close by the fire. That heat put a smile on my face every morning.

This morning as I stood directly in front of this gas furnace I was grinning from ear to ear!

A lot of people say they love the 'But God's of the Bible. I do too. I also love the 'But God's of life. I am living up here in this frigid climate. But God gave me this WONDERFUL gas furnace! Thank you, Lord.

Play Ground

We spent our afternoon yesterday, after church, at the play ground. The rain stopped and it was dry.

I know everyone wonders what the play ground is like. I keep mentioning that the girls BEG to go to the play ground every day. Now you will know why.

This is Cari riding her bike to the play ground from our cabin.

This is Hannah on the 'swing' at the play ground. She climbs up the slide and then to the monkey bars and then onto the swing. (Just like a monkey.)

The girls on the tire swing. We all love this one. They mostly twist it up and then let it spin them around and around. It makes me sick to watch them do this.

This is a scene of the play ground. All of the climb on things and swings.

This is the putt-putt course.

The basket ball court and tennis court.

And, carpet ball.

For all of those back home who have never seen capet ball, let me explain. You set up pool balls at your end and then you take the Q ball and roll it down towards the other end and try to knock the other person's balls down into the big opening on their end. This is a SUPER fun game. All of us have enjoyed playing it. The girls are really good at it. This set up is so that four sets of people can play. So, while I am beating Michael during our game, the girls can play their own game.

First Rainy Day

On our day out trying to find the Cold Stone, we drove through Lake George. They were having a HUGE car show this weekend. The streets were lined with cars and people were everywhere. There were more, old vintage restore cars and trucks here than I have ever seen at one time. The one person that was on my mind was J.C. He was dear friend to Michael. During his years as a teenager he taught Michael about restoring old cars and trucks. He had several and I remember the day when Michael came to pick me up in one of J.C.'s cars. It was a 69 Camaro, convertible with white interior. Later on, after Michael and I had dated for a while, J.C. gave me the privilege of driving that 69 Camaro to a car show. We miss you J.C.

Also, I think we found the 'Boardwalk' of upstate N.Y. They had an arcade, a haunted house and several putt-putt courses and all kinds of places to eat. I saw one man with some cotton candy. They also have boat rides to tour the lake. It was rainy, but it was fun to see all the cars and that town.

In the same city that we found the Cold Stone, there were painted horses everywhere along the streets. It reminded me of the painted pigs in Lexington because of all the BBQ. I told Michael, “They must have something for horses in this town.” During our exploration, we found a horse race track and all the stables for the horses. They must have over a hundred horses that stay there. There was A LOT of stables.

We also saw a Civil War Encampment park. But, since it was raining again by then, we didn’t get out and walk around there.

Exploring

This weekend, we decided to explore our surroundings. It might have something to do with the ice-cream shop, without warning, shut down!!! We drove by a couple days and noticed that the place was empty of cars and finally decided to stop to check out their hours. The sign that was taped to their window read, "Thanks for a great season. See you next June." NEXT JUNE!!!! WHAT, NEXT JUNE????!!!!! What are they thinking? Don't they know that ice-cream is just as good in the winter as in the summer????????? That would be the perfect time to eat them, they wouldn't melt so fast. The girls started asking if there was a Cold Stone near us. So, in our fleshly desire, we drove the streets in search of the nearest Cold Stone Creamery. We told the girls we were just driving around checking out our surroundings. We wanted to ride around and check out the town, but we also wanted to keep Cold Stone a suprise.

For Michael's birthday, a couple people so generously contributed to the purchase of a GPS. I am so thankful that he picked that gift for himself. He knew how much we would use it on this journey. It helped us navigate the roads all the way from our home in N.C. to our cabin in N.Y.. However, this GPS has been known to not take us exactly to the place we were trying to go. So, we weren't sure if we would be able to find the Cold Stone once we entered the town. We had plugged in the destination. We were about a mile away when the lady on the GPS announced, "Travel .8 miles and arrive at Cold Stone Creamery on the right." Hannah's mouth dropped to the floor and she said, "Are we going to Cold Stone?" Michael started grinning. Then the girls started chanting, "Cold Stone... Cold Stone... Cold Stone...". We all were VERY happy.

Family Time

Guess what we did this evening........................

Michael and the girls watching the fire burn.

The girls were very unsure about being so

close to the fire. You can see the look of

concern on their faces.

So, this was the result of them being scared.

Mom and Dad cooked the dogs.

For some reason, Cari was okay to roast the

marshmallows. Hmmmm, do you think Mom

was still eating and she wanted her marshmallow?

These are MY yummy marshmallows. The girls

do not take to kindly to theirs getting a tan.

Notice the bit of marshmallow on her face.

Afterwards, we attended a flag football game

at the WOL BI. It was students against staff.
Fun family 'outside' time before the snow comes. It was 60 degrees tonight.